Dysgerminoma of the ovary: a retrospective study

Late Recurrence in Ovarian Dysgerminoma Presenting as a Primary Retroperitoneal Tumor: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Ovarian dysgerminoma is a rare type of germ cell tumor. The majority of patient relapses occur within 2 years of diagnosis. Here, we report the case of a 74-year-old woman with a history of ovarian dysgerminoma 39 years earlier. The patient visited the hospital presenting with heartburn. An abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed a right retroperitoneal mass, and a primary retroperitoneal tumor was suspected. She underwent surgical resection of the retroperitoneal tumor. Histological examination confirmed a metastatic dysgerminoma to the retroperitoneum. Postoperative CT showed paraaortic and cervical lymph node metastases. The patient was treated with bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin chemotherapy. This case demonstrates the difficulties that may be encountered in the differential diagnosis of a retroperitoneal mass and underlines the necessity for understanding a patient's clinical history.

A case of pediatric ovarian dysgerminoma associated with high serum levels and positive immunohistochemical staining of neuron-specific enolase

A 5-year-old girl presented with a painful abdominal mass. Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed 3 separate masses. Tumor markers including lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), cancer antigen-125 (CA-125), beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) were elevated. At operation, the main tumor arose from the left ovary and was associated with torsion, whereas the other lesions were lymph node metastases. A salpingo-oophorectomy was performed. Histopathologic examination indicated that the tumor was a dysgerminoma. Immunohistochemicallly, the cells were positive for NSE and placental alkaline phosphatase (PALP) but were negative for CA-125, beta-hCG, S-100, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and vimentin. The elevated serum levels of tumor markers improved dramatically after the operation and chemotherapy.